Hamilton honored as top AL player

Rangers center fielder led MLB in average, slugging

American Leaguers cast votes to determine this season's "best of the best" in the junior circuit, and the 2010 Players Choice Award winner for American League Outstanding Player is Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Major League Baseball Players Association and ESPN Radio's Doug Gottlieb revealed the winner during the third in a series of daily broadcast segments highlighting the on-field performances and community leadership of Major Leaguers.

The 2010 Players Choice Awards are being broadcast exclusively this week on ESPN Radio and are presented by Majestic Athletic and 2K Sports and benefit the Major League Baseball Players Trust. Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez was revealed as the National League Outstanding Player earlier this afternoon during ESPN Radio's Scott Van Pelt Show. [See complete Awards broadcast schedule below.]

This season, Hamilton, 29, helped guide the Rangers to the AL West championship by leading all Major Leaguers in batting average (.359) and slugging percentage (.633). Despite missing 29 games, the World Series-bound center fielder finished second among all American Leaguers in on-base percentage (.411), fourth in total bases (328), tied for fifth in homers (32) and extra-base hits (75), and sixth (tie) in hits (186). This is Hamilton's second Players Choice Award, having captured the same award in 2008, and he is a finalist (with Carlos Gonzalez/Colorado Rockies and Joey Votto/Cincinnati Reds) for the 2010 Player of the Year award. Player of the Year will be announced on ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike Show (6-10 a.m.) Friday, Oct. 29.

The Players Choice Awards annually honor the outstanding player, rookie, pitcher and comeback player in each league, and the Player of the Year and Man of the Year awards bestow top honors without regard to league. Balloting for the Players Choice Awards was conducted in September under the supervision of accounting firm KPMG.

2010 Players Choice Award winners in all categories will designate charities to receive grants totaling $260,000 from the Major League Baseball Players Trust, the charitable foundation created and run by the players themselves.

The complete list of 2010 Players Choice Awards finalists is below as well as the ESPN Radio broadcast schedule for the awards announcements.